Cocopah Times Newsletter

October 2014 ISSUE COCOPAH INDIAN TRIBE Tribal Phone Directory

ADAPP (Ext. 235) 627- 2161

Children’s Home 627- 1298

Cocopah Casino 726- 8066

Cocopah Korner 341-1444

Cocopah Resort 722- 6677

Cocopah Speedway 344-1563

Cocopah Wellness (Ext. 210) 627- 2681

Community Center 627- 5658

Cultural Resources 627- 4849

CVT 627- 8026

Daycare 627- 3729

Education (Ext. 230) 627- 4973

Elderly Program 627- 4166

EPO (Ext. 290) 627- 2025

Head Start 627-3197

Housing 627- 8863

IHS 1(800) 862- 4911

IT Department (Ext. 280) 627- 2025

Judicial 627- 2550

Museum 627- 1992

Manpower 627- 0616

Native Eatery 217-1001

Pesticide 627- 2025

PHEP/CTERC 627-2025

Prosecutor (Ext. 270) 627- 2025

Public Works (Ext. 240) 627- 0616

Purchasing (Ext. 201) 627- 2025

Resort Gift Shop 217-1068

Rio Colorado Golf 627- 0057

RV Park 343- 9300

Social Services 627- 3729

Title VI/XX 627- 1148

Tribal Gaming 217- 7718

Tribal Headquarters

Administration (Ext. 205) 627- 2102

Finance (Ext. 310) 627- 2102

Tribal Police (Ext. 215) 627- 8857

Wild River 627- 0980

Saturday, October 18, 2014 from 11:00am to 4:00pm

Special Guest: Billy Mills, 1964 Olym-

pic gold Medal Winner for 10,000 me-

ter run, second Native American to

win an Olympic Gold Medal.

Cocopah West Reservation

14515 South Veterans Drive

Somerton Arizona 85350

Cultural Performances

Bird singing and dancing

Arts & Crafts booths

Informational booths

Children’s fun area

Pony rides

Watermelon eating contest

Snow cones

Free drawings and much more!

Enjoy all day

11:00am …………………...WELCOME

11:30am to 1:00pm ……….FREE LUNCH

1:00pm ……ENTERTAINMENT STARTS

Meet Yuma area royalty & the new Miss Cocopah

For more information: (928) 627-1992 or museum@cocopah.com

Page 2 Cocopah Times Newsletter

Nutrition Program Lunches Provided Monday—Friday

Faye Ortega, Title VI/XX @ 627-1148

* Menu may be substituted due to shortages of needed items.

SUN MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SAT

1 Pork Chops

Rice Gr. Beans

2 Chili Beans Cornbread

3 Hot Dogs

Pork N Beans

4

5 6 Beef Macaroni

Corn

7 Turkey & Cheese

Sandwich Macaroni Salad

8 Meatloaf

Boiled Potatoes Green Beans

9 Gr. Salad

w/diced Chicken Wheat Crackers

10 Hamburgers

Lettuce Tomatoes

11

12 13 OFFICES CLOSED

14 Roast Beef Sandwich

Macaroni Salad

15 Salisbury Steak Mash Potatoes

Corn

16 Potato & Cheese

Soup Wheat Crackers

17 Chicken Patties

Lettuce Tomatoes

18

19 20 Chicken Teriyaki

Rice Egg rolls

Mix Veggies

21 Beef Bologna &

Cheese Sandwich

Potato Chips

22 Gr. Beef & Rice

Burrito Salsa

23 Chicken & Rice

Soup Grilled Cheese

Sandwich

24 Chicken Strips

BBQ Sauce Salad

25

26 27 Spaghetti w/

Meatballs Corn

28 Tuna Sandwich Macaroni Salad

29 Beef Stew Tortillas

30 Ham Salad w/Ranch Dressing

Wheat Crackers

31 Ham & Cheese

Croissant Potato Chips

ELDERS LUNCH MENU OCTOBER 2014

Columbus Day

COCOPAH VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTER Training for Success

COCOPAH ELDERS CULTURAL COUNCIL (ECC)

COCOPAH INDIAN TRIBE Page 3

Location: 14250 Avenue I Somerton, Arizona 85350

Phone: 928.627.8026

Fax: 928.627.2510

E-mail: cococvt@cocopah.com October 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

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B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

B.I.A., N.A.U. , N.E.W. & W.I.A. Intakes by Appointment

Susan Taylor, Director ; Serena Thomas, Office Manager; Marilyn Hayes, Curator;

Art Negrete, Maintenance Supervisor; Marjorie Manuel, Gift Shop Clerk; Mitchell

Davis, Maintenance; Jesus Moreno, Maintenance; Deanna Thomas, Receptionist;

Pamela Banfield, Gift Shop Manager.

Meeting will be held

October 9th

10:00a.m. to 11:30a.m.

OPEN TO ALL COCOPAH

ELDERS & SENIORS 55+

Please be advised, this will serve as your notice

for the meeting. Any questions please call:

(928) 627-1992

Page 4 Cocopah Times Newsletter

PHEP/ WELLNESS

COCOPAH INDIAN TRIBE Page 5

MEXICO’S COCOPAH PEOPLE REFUSE TO DISAPPEAR

“The government violated the Cocopah’s people’s right to consultation as outlined in the Internation-al Labour Organisation’s Convention 169,” which Mexico ratified in 1990, said Ramírez Baena. ILO Convention 169 Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples requires prior consultation of local indigenous communities before any project is authorised on their land. But in 1993, without any prior consultation, the government decreed the creation of the Alto Golfo de California y Delta del Río Colorado Biosphere Reserve. The nucleus of the reserve is the Zanjón, where the Cocopah have fished for the Gulf weakfish (Cynoscion othonopterus) for centuries. The Gulf weakfish lay their eggs between Febru-ary and May in shallow waters in the Gulf of California where the states of Sonora and Baja California meet, and the fish are widely sold during Lent, when Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays. After the biosphere reserve was created, a Re-serve Management Plan was adopted in 1995, along with a string of laws and regulations – such as the Law on Ecological Balance and a fishing quota and ban – which restricted the fishing activ-ities of the Cocopah to levels that have made it impossible for them to make a living. “The case of the Cocopah is an example of how ultra-conservationist policies can endanger the existence of a native community,” said Yacotzin Bravo, another lawyer with the Citizens Commis-sion of Human Rights of the Northwest. The Mexican constitution defines indigenous people as the descendants of the populations that inhabited the area before the state was formed and who preserve their ancestral cultural or economic institutions. Article 2 of the constitution establishes that native people have “preferential access” to the nation’s natural assets. “Indigenous rights are the rights of peoples,” expert in indigenous law Francisco López Bárce-nas told IPS. “Not of persons, not of municipali-ties, not of rural communities. With respect to indigenous rights, we are talking about the appro-priation of territory, which is necessary for a peo-ple to be able to exist as such. “They depend for a living on fishing, on a close relationship with their natural surroundings. It’s not only about money. First, as a result of the laws on agriculture, their territories were shrunk to small spaces, and now their main livelihood activity is reduced. And if they can’t fish, they have to go to other parts to find work,” he said. Every year, just after the waning moon, the weak-

fish begin their migration to the shallow waters of the Colorado River delta, and fishing season starts. The Cocopah go to sea in their “pangas” or fish-ing boats and sit quietly until they hear the weak-fish and throw their “chinchorros” or nets. The Cocopah capture between 200 and 500 tons of fish per season. “What the government has done with us is segre-gation,” Juana Aguilar González, the president of the El Mayor Cocopah Rural Production Society, told Tierramérica. “They know that we Indians don’t threaten the environment.” The Cocopah are not the only ones who catch weakfish. There are also two non-indigenous cooperatives in the area – San Felipe in Baja California and Santa Clara in Sonora – with a fishing capacity 10 times greater, according to statistics from the governmental National Com-mission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO). The weakfish “captured by the Cocopah are ap-proximately 10 percent of the recommended quota, which shows that the fishing done by that indigenous community, even if they fish in the nucleus of the reserve, does not hurt the ecologi-cal balance or threaten the species with extinc-tion,” says recommendation 8/2002 of the Nation-al Human Rights Commission addressed to the ministries of the environment and agriculture. “The decree creating the reserve changed our lives,” Mónica González, the daughter of the late Cocopah governor Onésimo González, said sad-ly. “Now, instead of being busy organising our dances, we have to be worried about the legal action, the trials, confiscations and arrests.” The Cocopah, descendants of the Yumano peo-ple, are one of the five surviving indigenous groups in Baja California. In the 17th century, some 22,000 Cocopah were living in the Colorado River delta. Today there are only 1,000 in the Cocopah Indian Reservation in the southwest corner of Arizona, and just over 300 in Mexico, in Baja California and Sonora, according to the governmental National Commis-sion for the Development of Indigenous Peoples. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) , Cocopah is an endangered language. There are only 10 Cocopah speakers still alive. Years ago one of them, 44-year- old Mónica González, began to make an effort to revive the language. “Sometimes I think our leaders talk about the Cocopah as if we had already died, but we are alive and still putting up a struggle,” she told IPS.

Thursday, 11 September 2014

10:05 By Daniela Pastrana, Inter

Press Service El Mayor, Mexico - In their language, Cocopah

means “river people”. For over 500 years the members of this Amerindian group have lived along the lower Colorado River and delta in the Mexican states of Baja California and Sonora and the US state of Arizona. They fish and make crafts for a living, have strong family ties, and are united by their Kuriku-ri or rituals and funeral ceremonies – and, now, by the struggle to keep from disappearing, in a battle led by their women. Today, the Cocopah number just over 1,300 people, most of whom live in Arizona. “I’m Hilda Hurtado Valenzuela. I’m a fisherwom-an. And I am Cocopah,” says the president of the Cocopah Indigenous People Cooperative Society. She and other women of this community intro-duce themselves this way at an assembly at-tended by IPS, held to discuss the federal gov-ernment’s promise to finally consult them about a fishing ban which took away their livelihood and practically condemns them to extinction. “No government has the right to take our habitat from us,” Hurtado told IPS during a visit to the El Mayor Cocopah Indigenous Community, where the Red de Periodistas de a Pie (Journalists on Foot Network) and the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights are carrying out a project for the protec-tion of human rights defenders, financed by the European Union. In May, the 61-year-old Hurtado, a mother of four and grandmother of 10, sat down on the road connecting the port of San Felipe on the Gulf of California with Mexicali, the capital of the state of Baja California, which abuts the US, and refused to budge until the federal government formalised its promise to hold a consultation with the local communities. “The government agreed to do something that it should have done 25 years ago,” said the lawyer Ricardo Rivera de la Torre of the Citizens Com-mission of Human Rights of the Northwest, an organisation that has been documenting viola-tions of civil rights in Baja California since 2004. Rivera de la Torre and Raúl Ramírez Baena took the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2008.

Page 6 Cocopah Times Newsletter

OCTOBER POW WOW’S

Festival of the

Americas Pow Wow Submitted by Pow Wow Calendar

– Added on: February 27, 2014

Status: Active

When

Date/Time October 4 to 5, 2014,

All Day

Where

El Dorado County Fairgrounds:

100 Placerville Drive

Placerville, CA

Contact Information

Contact:

Phone: 530-621-3096

Email:

Website: coming soon

Additional Information: All Drums

and Dancers Welcome. Free Ad-

mission, Competition Dancing,

Drum Contest,

Open Gourd Dancing, Exhibition

Dance Groups, Quality Arts/Crafts.

Head Staff To Be Announced.

Grand Entry:

Saturday: 1pm & 7pm, Sunday:

Noon. Absolutely no drugs, alco-

hol, or weapons. This is a smoke

free event.

2014 San Manuel

Pow Wow Submitted by Kshoji – Added on:

August 14, 2014

Status: Active

When

Date/Time October 10 to 12,

2014, All Day

Where

Cal State San Bernardino: 5500

University Parkway

San Bernardino , California

Contact Information

Contact: Kenneth Shoji

Phone: 909-425-3450

Email: powwow-

sanmanuel@gmail.com

Website:www.sanmanuel-nsn.gov

32ND ANNUAL

NARD POWWOW Submitted by Freedy Alvarado –

Added on: September 10, 2014

Status: Active

When

Date/Time October 11 to , 11:00

am10:00 pm

Where

Madison Park Middle School:

1431 East Campbell Road

Phoenix, AZ

Contact Information

Contact: Loretta Sanders

Phone: 602-507-5781

Email: llsanders4@yahoo.com

Website:

Additional Information: NO

WALKING VENDORS ALLOWED

OCTOBER POW WOW’S CONTINUED AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

COCOPAH INDIAN TRIBE Page 7

Auburn Big Time

Pow Wow Submitted by Loren N – Added

on: May 13, 2014

Status: Active

When

Date/Time October 17 to 18,

2014, 12:00 am9:00 pm

Where

Gold Country Fairgrounds:

1273 High St.

Auburn, California

Contact Information

Contact: Loren Nakai

Phone: 530 888 8767

Email:lorenn@sierranativeallianc

e.org

Wesite:www.sierranativealliance

.org/events

31st Annual Roy

Track Memorial

Powwow Submitted by UrbanN8VWarrior

– Added on: September 15,

2014

Status: Active

When

Date/Time October 24 to 26,

2014, 6:00 pm

Where

Pioneer Park: 525 E. Main St.

Mesa, AZ

Contact Information

Contact:

Phone: 602-799-0260

Email: mesapowow@gmail.com

ATTENTION LOCATION

HAS BEEN CHANGED

FOOD HANDLER’S TRAINING

DATES AND LOCATION:

DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 2014

TIME: 8:00AM—10:00AM

LOCATION: Community Center

Michael Fila

14515 S. Veterans Dr.

Somerton AZ 8535

Cell phone: (928) 750-6612

Email: (mfila@cocopah.com

INTERESTED IN SIGNING UP

TO RECEIVE EMERGENCY

NOTIFICATIONS

THROUGHOUT THE

COCOPAH RESERVATIONS?

Please contact Michael Fila,

Emergency Manager for the

Cocopah Indian Tribe

@ (928) 750-6612

COCOPAH NATIVE AMERICAN DAY

Page 8 Cocopah Times Newsletter

Our Cocopah Head Start

for their Field Trip

came to Tour the

Cocopah Museum on

September 24, 2014

COCOPAH’S HEAD START

COCOPAH WISHES . . .

COCOPAH INDIAN TRIBE Page 9

Happy Birthday to the Lil Cuz

Timo, the Bros/Uncles Isaac and

Jonny & Lil Sis/Auntie Destiny.

Hope you guys have an

awesome birthday.

From Melissa, Danielle & Sonny

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MARCUS, TYLONNA & RENZO LOVE ALWAYS YOUR COUSINS, BRIANNA, RAINY & DAMIAN

Happy 12th (Pre-teen) Birthday

To our Nephew Benicio Esquerra on October 22nd,

You're growing so fast & have accomplished so much We’re

very proud of you!!!! This is your day & hope you have fun,

I hope the Monster Truck show comes in time!

Love You- Auntie Laura & Uncle Shawn

Happy Birthday to my (2)

Sisters: Molly & Mariella. You

two are growing up too fast, I

can still remember when you

were just babies (tear). Have

an awesome birthday. Better

do well in school and behave

:) I Love you!! Love Your Big

Sis Melissa & Your Crazy Lil

Niece Danielle.

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful Fa-

ther/Grandpa in the world, “Mickey.” I’m so glad to

have a Father like you in my life. I Love that you

would do anything for me whenever you could. I

wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world. Dan-

ielle is also thankful to have a Grandpa like you as

well. We Love You So Much! Hope you have an

awesome birthday. Love Your Daughter Melissa

Fawn & Your Granddaughter Hazel Nut :)

Happy Birthday to a wonderful Lady who has taken me in and raised me as one of her own children, Ms. Veronica

Mack! Hope your birthday is as wonderful as you are.

Love Melissa & Danielle

October 12, 2014

Happy Birthday

Michael Barley

4-Years Old

Love Auntie

Deanna & Family

Cocopah Newsletter Submission Form

COCOPAH WISHES CONTINUED . . .

Page 10

The last day you can submit any information for the November Issue is: Friday, October 24, 2014

by 5:00 p.m. Any late submissions will be added in the next month’s newsletter. Community, Tribal departments and local events submissions are welcomed. We reserve the right to edit all submis-

sions for length, language, multiple submissions, clarity or reject inappropriate submissions. You

can complete this Submission Form which includes your name, date, and a contact phone number,

email us or fax with all information

museum@cocopah.com

Wishing my big boy

Ivan Avalos Jr. (Lil John Cena)

a Happy 7th Birthday.

Words are simply not enough to express how amazing I

feel to have you as my son. I am so proud of the smart

young boy you have become. My Love or you is endless

an no matter how old you are you will always be my

“Baby Ivan” forever.

Proud to be you Mother; Christie (Mom)

P.S. Congratulations on being the first 1st grader stu-

dent of the month at Alice Byrne School. Love You!

Congratulations

Tearsey Lau

For being elected

Treasure for

Student Council at

Gary Knox

Elementary School

Love your Family

October 7th 2014

Brianna Dee Twist “B-Gurl”

4years old, You’re growing so fast, you’re so Amazing at

everything you do, at home, in school, its your Journey

Baby Girl. We love you so much.

Happy Birthday Brianna

Love Daddy, Mommy and your Brothers & Sisters

Hugs & Kisses.

Good Luck to you,

Shelyne Twist

In the run for the

coveted title in the

53rd Annual

Miss Indian

Arizona Pageant

Sending out a Birthday wish

to my Hero–

My Father Dale Phillips

Thank you for all you do

for our family

you are our Super Hero!

Happy Birthday. . . We love You

Deanna & Family